


The Better To Keep You Warm

by heathered



Category: Merlin (BBC) RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-13
Updated: 2010-08-13
Packaged: 2017-10-11 01:59:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/107074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heathered/pseuds/heathered
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katie and Angel find a way to overcome the cold on set.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Better To Keep You Warm

You would think, Angel mused, wrapping her fingers around her thin paper coffee cup and staring down into the dark brown liquid, that after enough months spent in a certain climate a girl would get used to the freezing, stinging, debilitating _cold_.

Well. 'Stinging' might have been a bit of an exaggeration, and 'debilitating' was possibly too strong a word by half, but _freezing_... definitely. She shivered and sipped as she stood just off-set, behind the huge wooden stands that had been put up for the jousting sequence.

It was one of those days on set that Angel was well used to by now, where she spent most of it sitting on a cold wooden riser next to Katie and down from Anthony, 'watching' a tournament that may or may not actually be happening in front of them. In fact most of the time they were just shooting reaction shots, so it was often just a lone producer running about the arena, gesturing, telling them where they should be looking and what they were supposed to be seeing so they could react appropriately. Or, of course, just clap. A lot.

It was more fun than it probably sounded; as far as Angel was concerned there were definitely worse things than sitting next to Katie for most of the day, talking between takes or trying to gauge, from the sounds he was making, whether Anthony was winning or losing at Mario Kart.

But it _was_ bloody cold sitting still for so long outdoors.

As much as she could without jostling her coffee, Angel wrapped her grey cardigan more closely around her shoulders. It settled well enough over her dress, but her parka would've been better. Unfortunately, her new purple cloak, like the red one before it, didn't offer much chest protection.

Not everyone was so affected by the cold. Bradley always seemed completely fine (and smug about it, damn him), but not everyone could spend the day covered in tunics and leather or chain mail, could they? Maybe if he had to spend a day in one of their dresses he wouldn't be so quick to tease her or Katie.

Actually, that wasn't a bad idea. Angel felt a smile creep slowly across her face as she began to imagine scenarios.

They'd have to take pictures, of course.

"What're you smiling about?"

Angel jolted slightly and glanced over to see Katie picking her way over the grass with a blanket over her arm, eyes dancing. Her hands were almost entirely hidden inside her woolen hand-warmers except for two fingers on her right hand, dangling her high-heeled shoes by her side. There were white trainers with green laces on her feet.

"Devising torture," Angel said with a nod, "it always puts a smile on my face."

"What's Bradley done now?"

"Bradley's... Bradley," Angel decided, laughing.

"Reason enough." Katie raised a wicked brow. "Can I help?"

"As if I could do it without you. You're the Colin to my Bradley. Or something."

Katie sent Angel a long, speculative look and Angel remembered the conversation they'd had a few nights ago, determining the odds that Bradley and Colin were totally hooking up. Feeling her face heat, her eyes went a little wide and she avoided Katie's gaze. "Erm. I meant..."

"I know." Katie sounded amused, and when Angel glanced at her again, her lips were curved -- but she wasn't meeting Angel's eyes, either.

They passed the next few minutes in silence, but it wasn't as awkward as it might've been; there was a definite sense that they were thinking the same thing, neither of them voicing it, and for whatever reason that was comfortable.

Angel, when they'd first met, had used to find Katie utterly intimidating (in a 'holy fuck she's gorgeous and so put-together and Irish too and _Christ_ she's tall and did I mention gorgeous' sort of way). Over time, though, they'd grown easy with each other and knew each other perhaps better than anyone else in the cast, except for Bradley and Colin, for obvious reasons stemming from the fact that they were probably totally hooking up and if not, they really might as well be.

Anyway. Angel understood by now that, despite being sort of preternaturally hot, Katie didn't lack for self-consciousness.

Even now, she watched Katie fumble a little for her glasses, slipping them on her face as her smile took on an ever-so-slightly anxious edge. "It's _freezing_," she said finally, shivering and meeting Angel's gaze.

Angel huffed out a laugh. Katie was the only one who understood. "No kidding; I'm so glad to have a break."

"I thought my arse would go numb."

A pause, and then they both giggled, the odd tension between them dissolving. Angel released a breath and sipped her coffee; finding it cold, she wrinkled her nose and stooped to set the cup carefully on the ground, far enough away from the ends of their dresses.

"Oh! Shit!" Katie rolled her eyes and gestured with her arm as Angel straightened, indicating the fleece blanket. "Forgot I was holding this."

"I was wondering if you had any plans for that," Angel said lightly. "But you've got the right idea; I'm sorry I didn't think to grab my coat."

"Well, we could share," Katie offered, and set her shoes on the ground so she could unfold the blanket.

Angel smiled slightly. "What; don't I look warm enough with just a cardie over my shoulders?"

"I think it was the shivering that gave it away," Katie said, then paused to look closer. "Wait; I think... isn't that one mine?"

"Hm?" Angel glanced down, only just then noticing that the buttons were grey instead of white, like on her own cardigan. She laughed and looked at Katie apologetically. "I guess I wasn't looking where I was reaching."

Katie waved a hand as Angel made a move to remove the sweater. "No -- I didn't mean you should take it off; it's just kind of hilarious how often that happens. One of these days we'll wise up and get different colored ones."

"You can," Angel teased, "but I'm partial to the grey."

"What if I look better in grey?" Katie smirked.

"No; you look really hot in black," Angel said absently, then went still again. _Clearly_ she was channeling Gwen extra-hard today, or something. She blew out a breath as she felt the heat spread up her neck again, and into her ears. "Oh, fuck it. You do, okay?"

After what felt like ages, Katie ducked her head, presumably to hide the redness in her face, and drew her bottom lip between her teeth. "Okay," she said quietly, then glanced swiftly at Angel, who was still watching her, her heart racing. "So are we going to get warm, or not?"

Somewhat tired of fumbling about, Angel nodded, firmly, and reached for the blanket herself, shaking it out gently and throwing it over Katie's shoulders. She pulled the ends toward herself then; the blanket was more than big enough for them both, but she still stepped closer to give herself a bit more slack.

And, well, possibly because stepping closer seemed like a _really_ good idea. Apparently Katie thought so too, because she moved in at about the same time. She smelled _wonderful_, and they were definitely very inappropriately close to each other at this point, even for warmth's sake, but it wasn't in either of them to do anything about it.

Katie moved first, as her hands were free, lifting them behind Angel's head and tugging her curls out from under the blanket. Angel cleared her throat and watched Katie with somewhat wide eyes.

"You'll mess up your hair for the take," Katie said by way of an explanation, and Angel nodded.

"So will you." Letting Katie hold the fleece in place, she reached up, pulling out Katie's thick, wavy hair in turn, letting it fall over the blanket and about her shoulders. She lowered her arms and, figuring she was already in for a hell of a lot more than a penny, let her hands rest lightly at Katie's waist, feeling a different sort of shiver at the contact.

Katie's dresses were even worse when it came to the cold. A lot worse, really, when you considered the thin silk and low necklines and the fact that there was barely room for anything underneath. At the moment, Angel felt nothing but warmth through the fabric.

Feeling a brush of fingertips against the shell of her ear, Angel realised she was looking down, fixated; she lifted her head quickly, nearly bumping into Katie's in potentially painful ways. Instead, she felt Katie's mouth, feather-light, against her cheekbone, then her breath warm against it, and her hands shook slightly against Katie's waist.

Angel had a moment to consider that she probably had coffee breath before realising that she was definitely going to kiss Katie anyway. She did, leaning up and keeping the touch as light as she dared, much as she wanted to do something more likely to ruin Katie's makeup. From the way Katie's breath caught, the pressure felt just fine to her. Katie's long fingers rested lightly against the side of Angel's neck as she returned the kiss, more daring than Angel had been and pretty much guaranteeing that they'd need to stop by the makeup chairs on the way back.

For her part, Angel found it difficult to mind.

When they both drew back, Angel glanced down to see the frosty air puffing out from both their mouths, mingling in the space between. They looked at each other then, feeling no less nervous than before but in a different way. They stayed huddled for a while, quiet and close and warmer than they'd bargained for.

Katie spoke first.

"So, does this mean I should --"

"No, you should definitely _not_ call me Bradley," Angel answered quickly, and Katie smiled that quick, wicked smile again.

**end**


End file.
